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Weiss Global Enterprises
Background: Weiss Global Enterprises was a small distribution company that was formed in 1971 by film producer Adrian Weiss and his son Steven, which mainly distributed the Exclusive Films and Lippert catalog on television and video. Kit Parker Films acquired their entire library in 2004 (with the exceptions of I Married Joan and My Little Margie, both of which are now owned by VEI Entertainment). (1978-1984) Nicknames: "WGE", "WGE of Doom", "70s/80s Arcade", "Abstract WGE", "The Atari Game from/of Hell/Doom", "Optimus Prime's Fist" Logo: After a second displaying a gray background, seven different angular shapes appear, forming an abstract "WGE", on the black screen, in a light textured gray, one at a time, except for the "G" which quickly snakes to the right, up a little at an angle, and then straight up (and also appears last). The text "DISTRIBUTED BY WEISS GLOBAL ENTERPRISES", with all but the "DISTRIBUTED BY" in the Handel Gothic font fades in below the "WGE" after that, and then fades away. Variants: *A color version of this logo exists. In it, the background is blue, and the metallic texture of the logo looks more detailed. *There is a short version with no animation, and one with the full animation. FX/SFX: The shapes appearing and the text fading. Chessy Factor: The logo is very retro, mainly due to the sound effects, primitive '70s animation and shaky film quality. Also, the W looks like a robotic fist. Music/Sounds: Over the one-second blackness at the beginning, a wind, airplane-like sound effect begins to play, and then, a droning sound also starts to play, which lasts throughout the whole logo. Cheesy retro '80s arcade-style zapping sounds are heard during the formation of the "WGE" and the company name appearing. A buzzing during the droning sound is heard at the end, with some more wind sound effects included at the end. It kind of sounds like something Throbbing Gristle or Cabaret Voltaire would come up with at the time. The short version only has one "buzz" from this jingle playing throughout. Music/Sounds Variant: A silent version has been reported at the start of I Married Joan and My Little Margie when they were shown on CBN (now Freeform) back in the early 80's. Availability: Extremely rare. Was seen on syndicated prints of Make Room for Daddy (a.k.a. The Danny Thomas Show), but not on Me-TV with the exception of one episode, "The Singing Sisters", as it's been plastered with the SFM Entertainment logo. Was last seen on TV Land when they played all the shows that Nick-at-Nite used to play in the '80s and '90s on the weekend of June 24, 2005. This show can also be seen on DVD as well! Also, this can be seen on syndicated prints of the classic NBC-TV series The Bill Dana Show, and was used as an opening logo. Also seen on Mayberry R.F.D. The color variant can found on the VCI DVD of Sins of Jezebel (on a double feature with Queen of the Amazons) and the Buena Vista Home Video release of the 1955 RKO film Tennessee's Partner from the 50's Theatre Video series. The shortened color counterpart was seen at the end of some episodes of Good Morning World, which an episode with it intact can be found at the Paley Center. This logo is preserved on certain VHS tapes of Make Room for Daddy from the early 1990's released by NU Ventures Video. It is unknown if there's a short version of the B/W logo. Scare Factor: Depending on the variant: Original B&W Version: Medium to high. The darkness, combined with the avant-garde synth music is bound to scare many people, especially those who aren't used to it. Lighter B&W Version: Low to high. Even though the logo is brighter, it's still black and white and the music is still there. Color Variant: Low to medium. The logo being brighter gives it a tamer feel, but the music is still there. Silent Variant: Low. The sudden appearance of the graphics may startle some who aren't used to seeing it, although when combined with the opening fanfare to My Little Margie it could become low to high, transitioning from silence to the sudden loud music.